


Ship's Log

by AlibiNonsense



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Check out Muffinlance's Work, Diary/Journal, Fluff, Gen, Humor, Intentionally Bad Spelling & Grammar, Jee being longsuffering, Mostly Canon Compliant, Racism, Sad Ending, Sexism, Sushi from Muffinlance's Salvage, Thank you Muffinlance, Unreliable Narrator, Zuko being an unintentional brat, he means well, in passing comments, of the Earth Kingdom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-18
Updated: 2021-03-18
Packaged: 2021-03-26 18:41:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,559
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30110319
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlibiNonsense/pseuds/AlibiNonsense
Summary: 'Uncle has presented this gift of a ship’s log to me as the captain. Liutenant Jee said he’d be happy to write it if I didn’t want to but I asked if liutenants normally wrote ship’s logs and he said no, that captains normally did, and I’m the captain, so I’m writing it.'A ship's log by Zuko, aged 13.
Comments: 8
Kudos: 28





	Ship's Log

**Author's Note:**

> I used this wonderful map I found online for reference. https://i.pinimg.com/originals/ad/14/4e/ad144e37456591b453e047380255b0b8.jpg

** 24th Day of the 3rd Month of Summer Two Years into Fire Lord Ozai’s Glorious Reign **

Uncle has presented this gift of a ship’s log to me as the captain. Liutenant Jee said he’d be happy to write it if I didn’t want to but I asked if liutenants normally wrote ship’s logs and he said no, that captains normally did, and I’m the captain, so I’m writing it.

I am unfortunatly not experienced in writing a ship’s log, as my previous experience as a ship’s captain is not extensieve, so unfortunatly this may not be a conventional ship’s log but I _will_ put down enough information that it can be turned into a conventional ship’s log later if necessary. I could have written it down on scrap paper and written it in later, ~~but I don’t know if we have that much scrap paper and I didn’t think about it until I’d already started writin~~ but I made the excecutive desicion not to, so that is that. It will be my own log up to my own high standards.

Nobody wrote anything beforehand about this voyage, so I might as well preface it by saying this is a voyage to complete a task that was given to me by my father, Fire Lord Ozai, may he reign for many years in ~~peace and~~ prosperity, to capture the Avatar, lost for a hundred years. This ship is the _Wani_ , an estemed vessel which has already loyally served its nation for twenty-eight long years, and this is probably its last voyage. I am Prince Zuko and I run this ship. ~~alongside my uncle, Prince Iroh, and Liutenant Jee but that’s not important; I make the decisions.~~

Today was rice porridge for breakfast with no cream or salt, which might be because I am a bit convalesent at the moment, but is probably because we have to conserve supplies and we are barely out of port yet. That’s Caldera Port, by the way, with the statues of Azulon, may he sleep in the cradled arms of Agni. ~~and the fire fence thing~~. ~~That’s the thing that comes up when unorthorised people try to get~~

I can’t see the stars yet because it’s just before midday, but we’re coming up to open sea, so I assume it’s the Mo Ce Sea. Uncle said we should try the Western Air Temple first, so we’re going there first. ~~Maybe we’ll find the Avatar there?~~ We’ll probably sail along the west of the Earth Kingdom and cut up through the Liandu Strait and try and go round from there. That way there’s a lot of ports where we can resupply.

 ~~Love~~ ~~Yours Faithfully~~ ~~Regards~~

Prince Zuko (13)

** 30th Day of the 3rd Month of Summer Two Years into Fire Lord Ozai’s Glorious Reign **

We have reached Nangang Port! It’s at the bottom of the Earth Kingdom bit that sticks out like a claw – a big claw, that is – and it’s somewhere we can get more supplies because lately we’ve just been eating fish and I hate fish now. It is mostly fish that is silver and medium sized that was caught in the Mo Ce Sea and I don’t know what fish types there are so that will have to do.

Uncle and the rest of the crew have gone ashore to get supplies and I am waiting back here to write this. Uncle has the money because I trust him not to spend a lot because he is a general and knows these things.

Addendum: UNCLE SPENT ALL THE MONEY! UNCLE IS A SNEAKY LYING CONIVING BADGER-WEASEL! I gave him all the money. I said ‘look after this and don’t spend any of it you don’t have to’ and I thought that was that, and then he came back with SEVEN boxes and _MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS_ and other ridiculous stuff and some lacquered box with a flower design on the side from some nobel who wants to treat our ship LIKE A MESSANGER BIRD.

note to self: NEVER TRUST UNCLE

** 1st Day of the 1st Month of Fall Two Years into FLO’s Glorious Reign **

Uncle made a music night. I am never speaking to him again.

** 5th Day of the 1st Month of Fall Two Years into FLO’s GR **

We have two komodo rhinos now which is, ok, a good purchase. Uncle is right about that ~~but not much else~~ at least. Anyway, there is a mom and a dad and a baby and the mom is called Daifuku and the dad is called Anko and the baby is called Mochi. I named them because Uncle said I could.

Liutenant Jee said not to get too close because they could bite but the man who looks after the hawks was petting them when I left so someone is lying. Maybe the liutenant thinks I will bite them. I do have a temper but not _that_ big of one.

We are making preperations to leave port today. We’ve been here far too long already but Uncle wanted the komodo rhinos and I couldn’t tell him to hurry up because I am never speaking to him again (see above entry for reason).

We have bought ten bales of hay, and some food supplies (note: ask cook later which ones), and some new fishing supplies, and we paid for repairs to the ship (the engine was leaking and some parts were rusty).

** 7th Day of the 1st Month of Fall 2y FLO’s GR **

Open sea! Uncle has been teaching me constellations, and we are just under the Sun Tiger _Lang_ _Yun_ at the moment. We had another music night but it wasn’t so bad. Uncle didn’t try to make me attend this time. And we had pig-beef for lunch!

** 8th Day of 1st Month of Fall 2y Flo’s gr **

~~I tried firebending today and it went really bad. I couldn’t even make one spark, and even _babies_ make sparks! Azula made flames when she was two! Anyway, this just proves I am a weak, terrible bender and Agni hates me and wants me to fail and I should just give up now. And I was nearly even more weak because I nearly cried in front of the crew and I’m _thirteen_ and I should be over being scared of stuff, and I’m not even a good person because I’m so weak and stupid, and even more stupid is me being scared of _fire_ which is part of me, and _Uncle_ had the fire, and Uncle would _never_ hurt me because he is a weak old man who lacks the backbone for real disipline, like Father says, and _Uncle_ wouldn’t burn me to teach me a lesson, even if I deserved it (which I did) and so I shouldn’t have disgraced myself by nearly crying and having~~ ~~a panic attack~~ ~~momentary lapse in breath control and I think five people saw me other than Uncle so, yeah, I can’t ever show my face again. Not that I want to because it is ugly.~~

We had pig-chicken and rice and vegetables for lunch. Except I had rice porridge with it instead of rice because I am a convalesent.

** 9th Day of 1st Fall Mth 2y flo gr **

Uncle said only three people saw me yesterday and they weren’t going to tease me about it because it’s perfectly understandable and Only a Fool Drinks Twice From Poisoned Water or something, which _wasn’t_ perfectly understandable, but that’s just Uncle being Uncle. Anyway, nobody should tease me _because I am the captain_ and not because I am scared of stupid fire. Which I’m not.

I practiced katas dry today, though, which was really difficult due to me not being able to see out of one eye with it being still bandaged. The crewsman sparring with me nearly hit me accidently when I didn’t dodge because I didn’t see her and then Uncle ended the practice. I could have done more, though.

Addendum: There was a weird scratching sound in the pipes just now and I should probably ask Uncle about it later but right now I’m going to bed.

** 10th Day 1st Fall 2y flo **

There was another weird scratching pipe noise just now and I only just remembered I didn’t ask Uncle about it last time. I hope the ship isn’t sinking.

Uncle’s been teaching me more about stars. Above us now is Kuzon’s Beard, but Uncle’s book is from Earth Kingdom so it’s called The Sea Snake in there, which is wrong. Actually, lots of the names I have to memorise because they are written wrong in Uncle’s book. The Sun Tiger was just called ‘The Tiger’ and the collection of stars called The Sleeping Beggar, just below the moon, is called ‘La’s Arms’ in the book, which I think is a stupid name. Can you even imagine a moon with arms? That’s weird and just like the Earth Kingdom. One of the crewmen said they get high on cactus juice and that’s why most of them have loopy ideas, and he called them dirt-lickers which is _another_ reason there weird. Why would people lick dirt for fun!? Is that what pesants eat?!! Uncle told him off for that and said The Sun Does Not Blame The Moonlight For Bringing Tides, Nor Does The Moon Blame Sunlight For Nourishing The Rice Crops. I think that means we shouldn’t blame earthbenders for being weak and ridiculous because we’re bringing prosperity to them? I don’t know. Uncle’s proverbs make my head

There it was again! The scratching sound! It’s like a sucking scratching and then it’s quiet and then it’s scratching again! It’s like something is in the pipes! I hope it’s not weevil-rats. I’m not scared of them. I just hope it’s not them. Azula said their diseased.

Addendum: I asked Uncle about the scratching noise and he just looked really mysterious and smiley and told me _three proverbs at once_ and I can’t even remember them now, but they were about waiting to see the colour of flowers and girly stuff like that that even Azula would scoff at. Ok, Azula would scoff at any girly stuff, but she is a girl so she should like that stuff. It’s just another thing that’s wrong with her, I guess.

** 11th d 1st Fall m, 2y flo **

Ok the cook shouted at me today and burned my rice porridge on purpose. Apparently there aren’t any weevil-rats in his cooking. There was no need to shout! That was all I was asking! It’s not like I _told_ him his cooking’s bad, even though it’s nothing like cooking at home and it’s _way_ too salty and there’s way too much fish and sometimes he burns it deliberately because I was shouting at him. I’m his _captain_! That’s my _job_!

So the scratching’s probably not weevil-rats.

I asked one of the crewmen what he thought it was and he said it was probably the wind, _which it wasn’t_. Another crewmen said he thought I must be going mad, _WHICH I’M NOT_! Azula’s mad. I’m not mad. Uncle said I’m mad _at_ people, which is true but IT’S NOT LIKE YOU HAVE TO POINT IT OUT UNCLE!

I will make headway on this. I will find out what the scratching noise is. And Uncle can’t stop me with his tea.

** 12th d 1st Fall m, 2y flo **

We stopped at port again. Why do we have to keep stocking up at so many ports? If he’s at the Western Air Temple, then we might as well have just bought enough supplies for the entire voyage on day one and gone on without stopping. I want to go _home_ , not languish around in Earth Kingdom ports waiting for Uncle! I don’t even know what this one is called. It’s at the top of the little Earth Kingdom claw thing – sort of the top of the bottom pincer? it makes sense on the map, if you look - just before the Liandu Strait and it began with a J or a Y or something like most stupid Earth Kingdom port names but I can’t remember it because Uncle woke me up with it and I was too annoyed at being woken up to listen to him. I was having a _good_ dream and those are rare!

One of the crewmen – he’s the tall one with a dark sailor beard and one green eye and one speckly blue eye which is actually his only real eye – the green eye is a glass one – and he’s about in his forties which is older than _Father_ – was acting suspicious at around midday. I’ll add in his name later because I don’t know it. He always calls me Baby Captain when he thinks I can’t hear so fuck him. (Ok, sorry Uncle, if you see that, but I am annoyed at him and if I can’t swear no-one else can either because I’m the captain.)

Anyway, he was acting suspicious. He was scrubbing the deck and then when I opened the door to check he was doing his job (because he takes smoking breaks when _he’s not supposed to_ ) and then suddenly he just threw the water over the deck and let the bucket clang upside down on top of something. And then he just knelt there and started pretending he meant to do that but, even though I’m only thirteen, _I know that you don’t just randomly chuck all the water over the deck when you scrub it!!!_ And then he wouldn’t stop scrubbing the same spot until I left. And I swear when I was nearly back out the door _the bucket moved_!! And then Liutenant Jee had the _nerve_ to tell me I’d had a ‘funny turn’ when I reported it to him and he wouldn’t even put the man on punishment duty! He said he thought we all ‘needed to calm down’ and I should just ‘go downstairs and meditate for a bit’ and he’s going to make me pay for the new window, which I only broke because it’s _my ship,_ and it was right by Jee when he was being _stupid_ so it’s Jee’s fault, and it _isn’t fair,_ Uncle, I’m the _captain!!_ I shouldn’t have to pay for stuff!

I got dao swords in port ~~because fuck windows~~ because I left my ones with Piandao and they’d be too small now anyway. Then I got the repairs to the ship looked at. We’re going to have to wait two days for ~~a new pane of glass~~ this one specific part that Jee wants but that’s ok because Uncle would have been slower than that anyway, and the Avatar is an old man so he won’t be able to move that fast if he finds out we’re coming.

(I miss Azula and the turtleducks and Father and my own bed and not being on a stupid ship and not having bandages and actually good food and it’ll be nice when I can actually _go home_ )

Addendum: His name is Souta but I’m not adding it in properly because he hasn’t stopped calling me Baby Captain since we got on this ship.

** 13 Fall 1 2y into father firelord **

ok so i am a bit dizzy so this is so this is going to might be a bit of a ~~diffrent~~ ~~diffirent~~ differint ok but it is because i have had wine and i uncle it wasnt me it was someone else they gave me the wine but also some no it wasnt wine it was houch o r something but the other stuff was lickor and that is struong ok i am the room it is swaying a bit that was souta he gave me the ~~wine~~ huch and i am ok but i did throw up on the floor all the the crewpeoples cheered at me because because uncle i don’t know why i feel relly ill i am going to bed but also i heard i heard scratchy pipes and saw a weird cat ok goodnight

** 14 **

Liutenent jee is still cross about the window. he is a bastard. we’re still in port. i am going back to bed now

** 15th Day of the 1st Month of Fall Two Years into Fire Lord Ozai’s Glorious Reign **

Window was fitted. It’s slightly bluer glass than the other windows according to Jee, but I don’t care. I can’t see it, anyway. Uncle said it looks fine. He showed me some more stars today. We’ve got onto the East of the world! Uncle says I’m progressing nicely on my stars. The ones above the air temples are easy. They’re all related to victories or battles or Sozin. I don’t know why Uncle’s making me learn the Water Tribe ones as well though. I’m not going there! Especially not to the South Pole! There’s not even any _waterbenders_ there! I suppose only perfection is acceptable from a crown prince, though, so I guess it’s understandable.

Although Uncle hasn’t really hired any tutors for me on the ship. He says he can teach me everything that’s important to know, and the rest of the crew can teach me other interesting things (which is unlikely, accept for swearwords, and then they won’t even repeat what they said when I ask them to so not even that, really). He’s been teaching me stars (like I said), meditation, dry katas (I’ll add flames later: it’s better to practice them dry first), map reading, pai sho (blegh) and other stuff here and there, and he’s been making Liutenant Jee teach me knots, how to adjust a telescope, how to manage a budget (I can manage it fine by myself, Uncle!) and other things like that. Liutenant Jee doesn’t like me and I don’t like him so those lessons aren’t very conjenial. Also I’ve been teaching myself more sword katas from a book I found in port a couple of days ago and I bought a book on Air Nomad history so I can track the Avatar better (if he’s not at the Western Air Temple, that is). Apparently they used to kidnap babies from other temples and raise them as their own, which is barbaric and no wonder they needed to be wiped out!

Uncle tried to make me make flames again today but we both agreed that it would be better to practice my katas for a few weeks first and then add flames. ~~Uncle said I should work on my fear of fire (which I’m not anyway) but what does he know? He’s a sad old man who was too afraid of my father to take the throne and that’s fact. Also, Azula’s right. He was weak to fall apart at Ba Sing Se. Everything about him is weak. He’s wrong. I can make fire. I just don’t want to. He’s wrong.~~ Anyway he said to come and join him for dinner if I felt like it but I don’t so I’m having it in my room.

There’s been more scratching in the pipes since I’ve been writing this than all day. What is going on!?

**16 th 1st Fall 2 flo** (That is much easier to write than the normal date so I’ll just keep doing it like that I think.)

We left port with lots of wanted and _unwanted_ supplies. Uncle gave Liutenant Jee a pressed lotus flower to keep in the bridge for luck and Liutenant Jee made a face and then accidentally stepped on it later that afternoon. Uncle made tea at him for the next half an hour even though Liutenant Jee doesn’t like tea and apparently the cup he was given half an hour later was stewed to the point of undrinkability. Then one of the crewsmen cornered me and made me give a play by play so they could go off and gossip about it and I _refused_ like a good senior officer _should_ because they should be _doing chores_. And then the crewsman made me tell it anyway in trade for information about the scratching noises.

APPARENTLY THE WEIRD CAT WHEN I WAS DRUNK WAS _REAL_ AND NOW WE HAVE A MIMIC CATOPUS ABOARD **_AND NOBODY ASKED ME FOR PERMISSION!!!!_** They called it Mei-Mei which is a stupid name for a cat so now it answers to Sushi and it is sitting in my lap right now purring and it is adorable. It’s even turned red like my shirt. As their punishment I am never giving it back.

That reminds me, the baby rhino, which I called Mochi, is now nearly as tall as me and it eats hay from my hand. The mom still bites me but the dad sometimes snorts at me and sometimes eats hay from my hand as well so it’s going well. When I’m tall enough that they let me ride one, I’m going to learn how to swordfight riding bareback standing up and Uncle can’t stop me. He can make tea aggressively at me but I am immune because I never drink his tea. (Except the orange blossom stuff which is really nice but also really expensive and we’re so low on money and Uncle would buy it anyway and make it for me and smile and I’d have to say “thank you Uncle for making me tea” and stop being angry (he always makes me tea when I’m angry which is _really infuriating_ ) and in my head I’d be tallying up the budget and crying and then I might throw myself into the sea. And then Sushi would come after me because she’s a good cat and ok I’m going to stop now because it’s getting sadder than wasting half our budget on tea.)

Apparently Liutenant Jee knew about the cat because he just gave me a flat, unimpressed look when I stormed back onto the bridge to ask about why they got it and he just told me it’s better than weevil-rats _and Cook told me we don’t have weevil-rats_ so Agni-damn them both.

** 17th 1st Fall 2y flo **

When I’m Fire Lord I’m going to make fish illegal. How many times do we have to have fish!!? I bet Father never has this much fish when _he_ goes travelling! And cook doesn’t debone it for me either. He just puts it on the plate whole with a splat (because he _boils_ them) and then Uncle says “eat your fish!” and “oh, isn’t that a delicious fish!” and you have to sit there until everything gets cold picking out little little bones and then you give up on chopsticks because they’re not good enough and you have to start picking at it with your hands because Uncle gave you _that_ look when you pushed the plate away and you then get hands smelling of boiled fish and a pile of bones all over your plate and the fish is just bones and then you eat the eye by mistake because it’s white and it was mixed up with the fish. And then everything tastes like fish. And then Uncle’s just sitting there _not saying anything_ and he’s _eaten_ his fish, and there’s just a _neat skeleton of a fish_ sitting on his plate and I hate Uncle. He is the worst. I bet it’s his fault we always get fish.

** 18th 1st Fall 2y Flo **

I accidentally smiled in front of the crew because Uncle told a joke that was actually funny for once. Now everyone keeps ruffling my phoenix tail in corridors and patting my shoulder and tripping on deck in front of me and telling _more_ (bad) jokes (the’re really bad) and I think there’s a competition going on to see who can make me laugh. Rest a shored, reader, it won’t happen again.

They still don’t know I know about Sushi except for Liutenant Jee who never tells anyone anything (like telling the captain the crew got a cat, for instance). She’s sitting in my lap at the moment. She’s a good girl. I’m going to ~~keep her~~ keep stealing her ~~until someone notices~~ indefinetly.

Addendum: I had a really good idea. Sushi can eat my fish.

** 19th 1st Fall 2y Flo **

I forgot Uncle is really scary when he’s mad. Note to self: NEVER MAKE UNCLE MAD. He is terrifying. He breathes little bits of fire and tells you about how long cook spent preparing stupid fish and how ungrateful and rude it is to drop it on the floor and how he never thought his nephew could be so ungrateful and don’t you know that there are people starving in the Earth Kingdom (like I care Uncle) and they’d be glad of that fish (and that adds up because their dirt-lickers and cactus juice drinkers and their crazy _anyway_ so it makes sense they like fish too, and they can have _my_ fish whenever they want) but I didn’t say that ~~because Uncle was looking at me in that way he looks at you just before he makes _lots of tea_~~ because I was too dignified (and my tutor says you don’t have to argue if you know your right, you just walk away knowing your right) and also Uncle’s eye was ticking and I’ve never seen it do that before.

Sushi didn’t even eat the fish. Uncle made me clean it up like a servant but I guess we don’t have any servants on this ship. I even have to wrap my own bandages sometimes because everyones busy. Jee said crew aren’t servants. _Ok Jee well you do servant stuff like being a Liutenant and swobbing the deck and cleaning everything and mending things._ I guess I have exepted it now that I live in poverty.

Why is poverty so shit?

Addendum: sorry uncle.

Oh wait, anyway, we are nearly at the Liandu Strait now. That’s all I was going to say.

** 20th 1st Fall 2y Flo **

Uncle made me say sorry to cook. I said sorry to cook. I don’t think cook believed me, but I said sorry so it _counts_ even if I scowled and he glared at me and said he was sure ‘his highness’ would learn to like fish over time which, I think was a threat but Uncle just smiled (I couldn’t see him but he definetly smiled) and told cook thank you for doing what he could with the supplies (which weren’t actually that bad because we just stopped in port but I guess everyone is terrible at there jobs on this ship even the actual ship*). Anyway, I said sorry eventually after Uncle prodded me in the back and cook said he accepted my apology even though he looked really annoyed about it.

I found a scroll on Avatar Yangchen the other day (I had it with me but I hadn’t read it yet) and it said that Avatar Yangchen had a sky bison as a pet and it had a picture. ~~I wish~~ Obviously the war is right and Father is right and the Fire Nation is the best nation spreading prosperity to all corners of the Earth ~~but maybe if they hadn’t wiped out~~ but also I think seeing a sky bison would have been really cool. Maybe if I get a wish from a spirit I’d use it to go back in time and pet one. They look so, so fluffy, like a cloud that you can ride on and _fly_ on. Obviously I wouldn’t use my wish to go back home because I’m going home soon, once we get to the Air Temple and we find the Avatar, or, if not that one, then the North one, or the East one, or even the South one, and that’s not many to check, so I’ll definetly be home before next month ~~and maybe Mom will be back too~~. Anyway, it’s silly to make childish wishes that can’t happen.

 ~~If Uncle made a wish, he’d see his~~ If Uncle made a wish I bet he’d fill the ship up with more stupid tea and we’d sink.

If Jee made a wish he’d want me to stop shouting because he’s a layabout.

If cook made a wish he’d want fish everyday and nothing else and he’d boil it and give me all the eyes and the bones.

If Sushi had a wish she’d want to lie in the sun all day and sunbathe, but she already does that. I guess catopusses are clever like that. If I had all the time in the world I’d lie down in the sun too even though it’s cold.

*I’m not terrible at being captain. I just realized I emplied that by that statement but I’m ~~tryi~~ doing exactly what a captain should, which is tell people what to do, which I am great at. Everyone says I shout a lot so they definetly noticed. I couldn’t fit it in next to the original sentance.

** 21st 1st Fall 2 Flo **

Uncle didn’t give me tea for breakfast today so I think he forgave me for the fish insident. He says now I know my stars, he wants ~~Souta~~ glass-eye beard man to teach me knots. I know how to tie a knot. I have been tying my shoes since I was four. And also my hair. Well, ok, now I don’t tie it like that anymore because I have less hair but I used to have more hair and sometimes I’d tie my sisters hair and her freinds hair and I’m _not_ crossing that out because I am a good older brother. Ok also the servants did my hair but _I knew how to do it_.

Anyway, ~~Souta showed me~~ glass-eye beard man showed me how to tie knots and some of them I already knew. See! Why do I have to learn knots? Souta says some are for different things but I think he just wants to look cleverer than me because he can’t look clever by knowing how to tie knots. Anyway, I’m never going to have to do this because I’m only going to be on this ship for a little bit and then I’ll go home and also I’m captain so why would I need to tie any of the knots? Thats grunt work!

Souta didn’t like it when I said that and he spat on the deck and said some rude things like _fucking ungrateful bastard incest-loving royal scum_ and _couldn’t suck a dick without a map_ and _Agni loving asslicker_ and some things I really wish I hadn’t forgotten or I would have written them too. Uncle won’t let me swear but when I am sixteen and an adult I will swear _all the time_ because Uncle wouldn’t be able to make me do anything if I was sixteen and an adult. I would have lots of muscles and my bandages would be off so I could see again and I’d take up pipe smoking and maybe I’d get a pet.

Or if theres a cool scar on my eye I could get an eyepatch to cover it up like a pirate. (Even though Uncle says pirates are a menace I think they are a very romantic prospect. Thats something Mom used to say which means ‘cool like in a play’.)

Anyway, Souta taught me some useless knots that I’ll never use and then I went and navigated for a bit just to check Jee knew where we were going.

** 22nd 1st Fall 2 Flo **

WE’RE AT THE LIANDU STRAIT! WE’RE GOING UP IT! NEXT STOP WESTERN AIR TEMPLE AND AVATAR AND HOME!!!!! I can’t wait to go home. There are turtleducks who will have grown up a bit now but they’ll still recognise me and maybe have babys of their own! And Azula will be taller (because she always is) and she’ll come and ask me about my adventures on a ship and I’ll tell her and Mai will blush and giggle about the fish incident and Ty Lee will giggle at _all_ of it and I can’t WAIT!

Father will call me a man and Uncle will be able to buy everything he wants to again and I won’t have to worry about a budget and Father likes Uncles tea, so Uncle can make tea for Father, and ~~maybe Mom will~~

And my bandages will be off and the wound will be gone and it will be like it never happened because I learnt my lesson and that’s how it works, and maybe we’ll even win the war!!!!! Especailly if we have the _Avatar_!!!!!!!!!!!!

I will show Sushi my room and she will sleep on my bed even though I’ll buy her a cat bed and I’ll get the servants (who are actually respecteble servants who don’t scrub decks and swear and feed me fish and pretend their not servants) to feed Sushi sushi!!!!! But only the fish.

And I won’t have to study stupid scrolls anymore and Father will be proud of me. Also I’ll learn useful stuff like how to be a Firelord instead of stupid knots. I don’t know why Uncle gave it up but I’m glad he did because I want to be Firelord _so bad_ and I’d be a great firelord because I know how to shout at everyone and thats what firelords do.

Anyway, it’s the first day of the Liandu Strait and we’ll get to the Western Air Temple on the 26th or probably the 27th because Uncle’s slow.

** 23rd 1st Fall 2 Flo **

Ok well you don’t really need to know where we are because I said last time and of course we are still in the Liandu Strait BUT I AM SO EXITED STILL and Uncle told me off for not listning to Jee in his stupid map lessons _but I already know were we’re going Uncle_ AND THAT IS **HOME**!!!!!!!!!!! Ok, _after_ we capture the Avatar, and Uncle _said_ that, and I _know_ Uncle, and of course I obviously don’t think it’s likely we’ll find him at the Western Air Temple because it’s been a hundred years and people have already checked there _but we might_ and I’m so exited! This is the first time in this journey there’s actually been something REAL and I might go home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I made a chart, actually. I didn’t tell Uncle but I made a huge map of an Air Temple and what it might look like (even though I don’t know, but I’ve been in a Fire Temple so that might be similar so I based it on that) and I anotated it (that means to write where everything is and explain it – I had to do it all the time for my tutors back at the palace) and I wrote where I’d hide if I was the Avatar, and I’m really good at stealth, everyone says so, so I have more chance finding the Avatar if he’s actually hidden because I’d know where all the best hiding places were. I’M SO NERVOUS AND HOPEFUL AND EXITED AND I’VE SAID THAT SO MANY TIMES BUT ITS **TRUE**!!!!!!!!!!

I even ate my fish at lunch and it didn’t taste so bad.

Oh, and one of the showers is broken in the main shower room. Theirs only six and this one keeps dripping and won’t turn on. That’s nothing new but I thought I should write it down. Theres a captain’s shower room so it doesn’t effect me or Uncle.

** 24th 1st Fall 2 Flo **

NEARLY THERE! Three days to go.

** 25th 1st Fall 2 Flo **

Now three showers aren’t working out of six. Liutenant Jee keeps complaining but he always complains. Doesn’t he know that that’s what this ship’s like and he’s got to get used to it?!!! It isn’t a palace. We’re slumming it, and that means sometimes you have to share showers. Uncle looked really disappointed when I said that and suggested we should share our shower but theirs no point because its only one and wouldn’t make a difference.

One of the other crew members who overheard told me I was naive to think I’d capture the Avatar straight away and I was a stupid child who didn’t know anything but what does he know. I will capture the Avatar. I _will_. And then I’ll go home and I’ll see Father and Azula and the turtleducks again and I’ll sleep in my own bed and have all my theatre scrolls and ~~my stuffed~~ everything and I’ll be able to grow a proper haircut that isn’t a shame haircut. ~~I know it looks stupid! Stop telling me it looks stupid! It’s a traditional royal style and its meant to represent my status!~~

Uncle thought I was upset after that comment and he brought me tea but I wasn’t upset.

** 26th 1st Fall 2 Flo **

ONE DAY LEFT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My hand hurts now I wrote all those exclimation marks but it doesn’t matter because I AM GOING HOME SOON!!!!!

_Long live our powerful prosperus Nation_

_Long live her children who dwell in her breast_

_Cradled so gently to Glorious Agni_

_Agni rewards those who honor her quest!!!_

That’s my favourite part of the Fire Nation National Anthym, espesiully now because I am on a quest (which is technically for Agni because the Firelord is Agni’s voice on earth), and IT IS ALMOST OVER!!!!!!!! ~~If I’m lucky, anyway.~~

I just was inspired to write it in. Anyway, I’ll be able to sing it again soon!! Uncle never sings it at music night. He likes old soppy folk songs and ballads and blagh.

ANYWAY!!!! WISH ME LUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Next time I write I will be going home back to the Fire Nation and this will all be OVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

One of the engineers fixed the showers but they had to have the whole day so Uncle let them use our shower and it was horrible because I couldn’t even have a shower in the morning like I always do because everyone was in there AND THEN GLASS-EYE BEARD MAN USED UP ALL THE HOT WATER!! But I can’t even be that mad because we’re nearly there and I ended up just telling him off without shouting and he _gave me a weird look_ and then told me _not to worry about it_ and I’m never ever doing that again.

Sushi caught me a weevil-rat and brought it to me and she’s a really good cat so I stroked her in my lap while Uncle got someone to clean up the weevil-rat because she is a good cat and deserves it ~~and not because I didn’t want to clean up the weevil-rat, Uncle~~!

** 27th 1st Fall 2 Flo **

I CAN SEE THE WESTERN AIR TEMPLE FROM THE SHIP!!!!! I’m all ready and packed with my shore supplies and rappelling gear and we’re so close! I’m finally going home! I can’t believe it! It’s been a whole month already and then some!

Wish me the luck of Agni because I will need it and hopefully finger’s crossed I WILL BE GOING **HOME**!!!!!!!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you Muffinlance for blanket permission to use your characters. Sushi is a wonderful catopus and thank you for letting me borrow her.


End file.
